WVOC News

Trick-or-Treat Shooter Gets 30 Years

A man charged with the fatal shooting of a trick-or-treater in Sumter five years ago has been sentenced to prison.

Trial was scheduled to begin this week for 27-year-old Quentin Patrick, but he pled guilty to murder, two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill and one count of assault with intent to kill.

It was a tragedy that has haunted the holiday in Sumter County since Halloween night 2008 when a family stopped for some final trick-or-treating on their way home from a fun time in downtown Sumter.

But as 12-year-old T.J. Darrisaw walked up to Patrick's front door along South Wise Drive, the boy was met with a barrage of gunfire from inside.

Investigators say Patrick used an AK-47 assault rifle to fire more than 30 bullets through the door and wall, killing Darrisaw and also wounding his 9-year-old brother and their father.

Police say Patrick was a drug dealer who thought he was being robbed.

In return for the guilty plea to the murder and assault charges, an additional charge of manufacturing crack cocaine was dropped.